Vitharr
by GreyWarden2009
Summary: Born in an Iwa prison camp, Uzumaki Kenshin finds he has a cousin after he escapes.  After the intro chapter, the story picks up during the last year of the Academy, so read and find out how the two Uzumakis fair.  Naru/Hina; OC/Temari
1. Chapter 1

"Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama!" An out-of-breath Chunin burst into the Hokage's office, nearly bringing the ANBU down upon him.

"What is it, son? What happened?" Sarutobi stood from behind his desk and walked over to where the Chunin was doubled over, trying to catch his breath.

"Refugees...refugees approached the gates! They say they are from an Iwa prison camp!" The Chunin straightened up, pointing in the direction of Konoha's gates.

"Where are they now? How many?"

"A woman and a child. I told one of the othe chunin to escort them to the hospital. They looked...they looked pretty bad, Hokage-sama," The Chunin reported.

Sarutobi looked at the two ANBU in the room, "Takata, Sanjin, head to the hospital and safeguard the refugees until I arrive. Son, did they tell you who they were?"

The Chunin looked the Hokage in the eye then, "The woman claimed they were members of the Uzumaki clan."

Sarutobi froze, then disappeared without a word.

* * *

><p>Sarutobi stormed through the halls of the hospital, grabbing the nearest medical nin, "Where were the refugees taken?"<p>

"D-Down the hall, Hokage-sama!" The frightened medic pointed down the hall to the left. The Hokage was instantly down the hall, looking through the window of an intensive care room at a severly injured woman who lay on the bed, wearing metal collar with a few chain links dangling over her throat. Around her bruised and bleeding wrists were manacles. Sitting in a chair next to her bed was a child no more than seven years old, and definately not in as bad a condition as his mother, but in such a beaten state that raised Sarutobi's blood to a boil.

A doctor emerged from the room, a sad look in her eyes, "Hokage-sama."

"How are they?" Sarutobi asked without looking away from the window.

"The mother will not survive the night. The boy...he won't respond to us at all. He'll recover, physically, but mentally...I'm not too sure," The medic nin said softly.

"I see. Can I speak with her?" Sarutobi looked over at the medic nin now and was surprised to see that the doctor was tearing up.

"Y-Yes, Hokage-sama. If you need anything, if they need anything, I'll be at the nurses' station," The medic said as she walked down the corridor.

Sarutobi walked into the room then and saw the woman's head turn slightly as she tried to focus on him through swollen eyes.

"Who...who's there?" The woman's hoarse voice gripped Sarutobi's heart painfully.

"I am Sarutobi, Third Hokage of Konoha," Sarutobi said, stopping when he was standing next to the boy's chair.

"I thought...I thought Minato was the...was the Hokage...what happened?"

"Minato passed away some time ago, madam. He sacrificed himself to save this village," Sarutobi said softly.

"What of...what of my sister? What of...Kushina?" The woman was on the verge of tears now.

"She too is gone. She died in childbirth the same day Minato died. I'm sorry," Sarutobi said. He felt tears welling in his own eyes as he saw tears trail down the woman's bruised cheeks.

"Then we...we are the last...please, H-Hokage-sama...please take care of my boy," The woman paused to take a breath," he was born...in the prison camp. His name is...Uzumaki Kenshin..."

"I swear I will do what I can for your son, but what is your name?" Sarutobi asked, grasping the woman's reaching hand lightly. He held her hand until he felt it go slack. He hit the nurses' call button, shouting for a doctor as the boy began to wail loudly. The two ANBU who were standing guard would hear that sorrowful wail in their dreams for many nights to come.

* * *

><p>Several days later, Sarutobi stood with the young Kenshin in his office as an ANBU escorted the young Naruto into the room.<p>

"What is this about, old man?" Naruto, at six years old, asked as he crossed his arms.

"Naruto, I would like to introduce you to your cousin. Kenshin, this is your cousin Naruto. He and his mother escaped from a prison camp two weeks ago, so be nice to him, Naruto," Sarutobi said softly. Naruto could only gape at the boy who was standing next to the Hokage.

"He's my cousin? I have a family? Where's his mom?" Naruto asked. He saw the boy, Kenshin, flinch and wondered if that was the right thing to say.

Sarutobi shook his head sadly, "Naruto, Kenshin's mother passed away a few days ago. The two of you are the last of the Uzumaki clan."

"Really? What happens now?" Naruto asked, his hope at having a proper family crushed.

"Well, the two of you will be living together now, for one. Once the two of you are eight years old, you'll enter the Academy together," Sarutobi said.

Naruto looked a little disturbed, yet hopeful at the same time, "Will people treat him badly for being around me?"

Sarutobi sighed, "Most likely. That just means you have to look out for each other now."

Naruto nodded, "I understand. Hey, Kenshin! Come on, cousin, let's get going so I can show you around. Then I'll take you home!"

Kenshin nodded slowly as he and Naruto left the office.

Once they were gone, Sarutobi cast a look at the ANBU that could cut steel, "I want you to make sure **none** of the adults bother those two boys, understand?"

"Hokage-sama, we can't change how they feel," Sanjin said softly.

"Just make sure that no one touches either of them! If harm comes to either of them, I will see the perpetrators suffer severly," Sarutobi roared.

"Understood, Hokage-sama," Takata said, silently swearing to look out for the two Uzumakis, even if one was the Kyuubi's jailer.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: Hey guys and gals. I can't seem to focus on much these days. I've got two stories In-Progress right now, and here I go writin another one! If you're wondering about the title, Vitharr means "Forest Warrior" in Old Norse. I got the idea for this story from reading some of Lord of the Land of Fire's stories. I recommend you read "That Look" and "A Mother's Love: Fire and Blood." Both are very good. Long too, and I really enjoyed reading them. I know this chapter is kinda short, but I want to get some feedback before I continue running with this story. I'd like to see some reviews, and if you don't, I hope you ninja readers enjoyed this chapter!_**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Naruto! Time to get up!"

The blonde knucklehead groaned as he rolled over in his bed, knocking empty ramen cups off his nightstand, "Five more minutes!"

Kenshin, now thirteen years old, walked into the room and yanked the blankets off his cousin, "No, cousin, we've got to go to school today. Graduation, remember?"

The blonde got up and groggily shuffled over to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Kenshin shook his head as he made his cousin's bed for him. Kenshin, while only thirteen, had his long dark red hair tied into a ponytail at the base of his neck, and was a good five inches taller than the knucklehead. Where Naruto was loud, Kenshin was quiet. Where Naruto was rude, his cousin was polite. Where Naruto rushed in head first, Kenshin cautiously approached his objectives. Lastly, where Naruto used the common tools of the shinobi, such as kunai and shuriken, Kenshin used only a katana.

Throughout their years at the Academy, Kenshin had been learning how to use a katana from Takata, one of the few people in Konoha to treat the two Uzumakis like human beings. For now, Kenshin used one of Takata's old katanas, but once he graduated, Takata said he would give Kenshin a sword of his own. Kenshin wasn't worried about himself graduating, only his cousin. Naruto had trouble creating a simple _Bushin_, and Kenshin had a feeling it wasn't because of his chakra control.

"You ready yet?" Kenshin shouted, fastening his katana to his hip. Many found this strange. Ninja using a katana typically wore it across their back, but Kenshin fixed it to his hip like a samurai. The Academy staff had tried to set him straight on that, but during the combat drills Kenshin had shown his way was more suitable for his self-made style. True, he learned the basics from Takata, but Kenshin had forged his own style even at his young age, and none could pinpoint its weaknesses.

"Yeah, let's get going," Naruto said sullenly.

Kenshin nudged his cousin's shoulder, "Hey, you're gonna do just fine!"

"You keep saying that, but I can't even make a simple clone of myself," Naruto muttered. The two traveled in silence after that, ignoring the dark looks sent their way by the people they passed. Once they reached the Academy, they took their seats in the corner of the room, away from everyone else. Naruto growled slightly as everyone in the class fawned over the one Uchiha in the room. Almost everyone, anyways. Kenshin looked over at the Hyuuga in the room and saw that she was once again watching his cousin.

"You know, Naruto, I don't understand why you drool over Haruna when Hinata-san obviously likes you so much," Kenshin said with a shake of his head. He never understood what Naruto saw in the pink-haired girl. To him, she was not worth the effort when there was someone else who cared for you instead of beating you.

"But she's so cute!" Naruto whined. Kenshin merely shook his head as Iruka entered the room.

"Alright, as everyone knows, today is the Graduation exam. To pass, you need to generate three successful _Bushins_. When I call your name, report to the room next door. Hyuuga Hinata," Iruka said. When the Hyuuga reached the door, Iruka escorted her out of the classroom.

"So, Naruto, you gonna pass? Or are you gonna have to repeat classes?"

Kenshin looked over at the guy who spoke and groaned when he saw Kiba, "Leave him alone, Kiba."

"What are you gonna do about it?" Kiba asked, spitting on Kenshin.

_"Kenshin, honey, do you remember what I told you yesterday?"_

_"Yes, momma. You said you must do whatever it takes to protect those you care about."_

_"Good. Always remember that protecting those you care about is one of the laws of the Uzumaki family."_

_"So why, momma? Why are we here if aunty is the Hokage's wife?"_

_"I...I don't know, honey. Just remember, use all your strength to protect those you care about."_

Kiba grinned wickedly. Kenshin stood slowly, before looking Kiba in the eye.

"Leave us alone, you dirty mongrel, or I'll rip out your throat," Kenshin said, his tone low and his expression dead. His emerald green eyes appeared to be vacant.

Kiba growled, "What did you say to me?"

A slow smile spread across Kenshin's otherwise expressionless face, "You heard me, mutt. Leave us alone. If you don't, I'll rip out your throat, then feed you to the carrion birds."

Kiba's eyes narrowed, then felt that everyone in the room was watching for his reaction, "Pft. Freak." With that, Kiba returned to his seat on the otherside of the room.

Kenshin turned to look at everyone else, "Anyone else want to say anything?"

When no one acknowledged him, Kenshin returned to his seat.

"You don't have to stand up for me, Kenshin. I can take care of myself," Naruto grumbled.

Kenshin smiled sady, "We Uzumakis have to watch out for each other. It's not like anyone else will."

* * *

><p>That night, Kenshin got word that his cousin had stolen a scroll of forbidden jutsus, so he set off by himself to look for him. Checking the usual haunts, and after finding nothing, Kenshin headed off to the training grounds. By the time he got there, as the sun was rising, Kenshin saw an exhausted Naruto sitting next to a wounded Iruka. Not far from where the two sat was an unconcious Mizuki.<p>

"Hey, Kenshin! I graduated after all!" Naruto shouted happily. Iruka nodded as he ruffled Naruto's hair.

Kenshin couldn't help but grin, "Great job, cousin."

* * *

><p><em>"Momma, where are we going? Those bad men are gonna be so mad when they find us," A young seven year old child said, shaking as he and his mother fled deep into the forests.<em>

_"That's why they can't find us, honey. Keep running, Kenshin, the border isn't much farther!" A woman, around twenty-nine years old, looked over her shoulder as she urged her child to run a little faster._

_About two hours later, the two rested in the shadow of a tall tree, both trying to catch their breath while the mother kept listening to make sure no one was following them._

_"Momma? What is Aunty Kushina like?" The little boy looked up at his mother._

_"Kushina? She can be loud, sometimes rude, but she's a good sister, and she has a protective streak in here a mile long," The mother said with a weak smile. She fought the urge to lay down and take that final rest that she knew was soon in coming._

_"Really? What about Uncle Minato?" The boy asked._

_"From what I remember, he loved your aunt very much. He seemed like a good man," The mother said softly. She froze when she heard a stick break._

_"Kenshin, you have to hide!" The boy's mother turned to face the direction of the border. Just as the boy retreated from site, two Stone Ninja came into view._

_"So this is where you've run to. Where's the brat?" One ninja asked coldly._

_The boy shivered then looked down and saw a sharp, heavy rock at his feet. Silently, the boy reached down and picked it up before circling around the tree until he was standing behind the two ninja._

_"WHERE IS THE BRAT?" The lead ninja stepped foward and backhanded the boy's mother. The other ninja looked around, but didn't bother to look above him. The boy had climbed the tree silently until he was standing on a branch over the two ninja._

_"He's gone," The mother said, looking the ninja in the eye defiantly._

_The lead ninja hissed angrilly as he pulled out a kunai, "Then we don't have a use for you, do we?"_

_Once the boy saw the knife, he leaped from the tree branch with a wordless cry, bringing the rock down on the second ninja's head with a sickening crunch. The boy's mother struggled with the lead ninja for the kunai until she cried out in pain. The lead ninja turned on the boy with a now bloodied knife._

_The boy screamed as his vision went red. When it cleared, he was standing over the two ninja with a bloodsoaked rock in his hands._

_"It's okay...Kenshin, momma's got you.." The mother whispered as she embraced her shivering son.  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: I know this is early for an update, but since I've got a few reviews and Story Alerts, I figured I'd go ahead and publish the second chapter earlier than I planned to. If you guys or gals have any thoughts on my OC, shoot me a PM or review, alright? Depending on how many reviews I get this time determines how early the next chapter is published. Later!_**


	3. AN: Votes needed!

_**A/N: Hey, readers. I know I haven't updated in awhile but I needed some time to get some things straight. Not to mention my work schedule has been pretty shitty. Now, I need to set a poll, and your votes will determine the course of the story, understand? After graduation, the genin all get assigned to their squads, right? Well, that would leave Kenshin as the odd man out, so here is the fork we have come to: we have to decide whether we shake things up with a squad of four genin and one jonin sensei, or if we go a different route with an unheard of situation with one genin and one jonin sensei. Here are the choices: **_

_**1) Kenshin is tacked onto an alternate Squad 7 consisting of Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata.**_

_**2) Kenshin is apprenticed to a jonin sensei by himself.**_

_**Now, the options for choice #2 are as follows:**_

_**1) Anko**_

_**2) Takata**_

_**3) Hayate**_

_**4) A Hyuuga OC I have yet to name**_

_**REMEMBER, your votes will have a huge impact on the story, so I won't be able to update until I start getting some votes! Later!**_


	4. Chapter 3

_The screams echoed throughout the caverns of the Iwa prison camp as Kenshin, his mother, and a young Konoha ninja fled from their captors. When the sounds of fighting drew closer, the man closed his eyes before turning to Kenshin's mother._

_"You two need to go on without me, I'll hold them as long as I can. Kenshin, son, I need you to listen to whatever your mother tells you, alright?" The man knelt down next to his son, ruffling the boy's hair._

_"When will we see you again?" The boy looked his father in the eye._

_"I don't know, son. But we _will_ see each other again. Until then, I know you'll take care of your mother, right?" The man smiled sadly._

_The boy nodded slowly, embracing his father for what would be the last time before he and his mother fled through the caves. Kenshin looked over his shoulder once to see the shadow of his father, cast on the wall by torchlight, impaled by several swords._

* * *

><p>"Kenshin! You alright?"<p>

Kenshin looked over at his cousin groggily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, "I'm fine. What's up?"

"You looked like you were having a bad dream. Man! How long are these sensei's going to take? We've been here for hours!" Naruto's loud voice echoed through the near empty classroom. Of the graduating class, only four people remained. Kenshin looked across the other students and grimaced. Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura did not sound like the best teammates in the world. Iruka had said that there would be one student left over, since the class had an uneven number of students, so that student would be taken by a Jonin-sensei as an apprentice. He never said which of the students would be the "lucky" one.

The door to the classroom opened once more and two people walked in. One was dressed in the typical attire of a Jonin, plus a mask and gravity defying silver hair. The other, a woman, wore a trenchcoat over a mini skirt and a mesh shirt.

"So, you guys are the remaining kids? Not much to look at, are you?" The woman looked over the students, then shook her head.

"We're better than you think we are, lady! I'm gonna be the next Hokage one day!" Naruto jumped up on his desk and thumped his chest.

"First impression...I hate you. Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto. Meet me on the roof in ten minutes," The silver haired Jonin disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Kenshin alone with the somewhat underdressed woman.'

The woman looked Kenshin over again, her eyes resting on the katana at the boy's side, "So, you're Uzumaki Kenshin, huh? I'm Anko, your Jonin-sensei. Walk with me." With that, the woman turned to leave the room. Just as Kenshin started to follow her, she spun around and hurled a kunai at him. Kenshin, his expression locking down, spun on the ball of his foot as he caught the kunai in mid-flight, then hurled it back at the Jonin. Anko dodged swiftly and the kunai burried itself up to the handle in the chalkboard behind her.

Anko smiled wickedly, "So, you're not a lost cause afterall! This should be interesting." Kenshin merely stared at her, his eyes calculating before he closed them and shrugged.

"So, Anko-sensei, what's the plan?" Kenshin looked out the corner of his eye at his new sensei as the two left the Academy and walked through Konoha's streets.

"We start signing you up for some missions while we train you up, that's the plan. Have you done any chakra control exercises yet?" Anko led the younger ninja to a dango stand.

"...Yes. That was...before I got to Konoha," Kenshin said slowly.

Anko, her curiosity piqued, turned to face her new student, "Really? Mind if I ask where?"

"...Iwa," Was all Kenshin said before he turned and started walking towards Ichiraku's.

"This is gonna be a pain in the ass," Anko muttered, collecting her dango and heading off after her student.

* * *

><p>It had been several days after Kenshin met Anko before anything of importance happened. During those days, Kenshin found himself performing menial tasks such a walking dogs or mowing someone's yard while his Sensei snacked on her dangos or telling him he missed a spot. On his way to Ichiraku's one night, Kenshin saw a couple figures struggling in an alley not far from the ramen stand. As Kenshin got closer, he saw that it was Ayame, and that she was being harrassed by a couple of men in kimonos. Several had katanas at their hips.<p>

Kenshin, seeing a red haze at the edge of his vision, sprinted into the alley and punched the guy closest to Ayame so hard that he felt the guy's jaw break beneath his knuckles. As the guy fell over screaming, Kenshin placed himself between Ayame and the assailants.

"Ayame, when you see an opening, I want you to run, got it?" Kenshin saw the red haze spread until his vision was totally focused on the the three men that were still standing. He more or less sensed when Ayame nodded wordlessly.

"Hey, punk, do you know who we are? We're part of the Daimyo's personal guard!" One of the men drew his sword and squared off with Kenshin.

"That does not give you the right to rape a woman of this Shinobi Village that I serve. You will pay for your transgressions, scum," Kenshin's expression turned to one of ice as he settled into a taijutsu stance. As the swordsman rushed him, Kenshin side-stepped the vertical slash and throat-punched the man, sending the warrior to the ground. The next one came from Kenshin's right, thrusting at Kenshin's exposed side. Kenshin spun away, and using the momentum from the spin, delivered a devastating roundhouse kick to the man's ribs. Kenshin could feel several ribs breaking even as he caught the third warrior's sword between his hands. He, with seemingly inhuman strength, snapped the blade in two with his hands before burying the shard in the third swordsman's shoulder. Kenshin turned to look over the fallen warriors, all of whom still lived, before turning to leave, only to see more men dressed in the same kimono's as the fallen surrounding the mouth of the alley. Behind them were several chunin from the village.

Kenshin grimaced as he removed the sword from his belt, setting it on the ground, and placing his hands behind his head.

* * *

><p>"Uzumaki Kenshin, you know why you are here, right?" The Sandaime looked up from the papers at his desk to the boy who stood before him, shackled.<p>

"I'm here because I assaulted the corrupt personal guard of the Daimyo, thus preventing them from raping a woman of Konohagakure," Kenshin said, focusing on the Hokage.

Sarutobi sighed, "That's what you keep telling me. I sent one of the Anbu over to Ichiraku's to verify your story, but it seems that Teuchi and Ayame have been on vacation for a few days now. Evidence, and eye witness testimonies state that you assaulted the Daimyo's men for no reason."

"Tell me, Sandaime-sama, why would I do that? I have never done anything like that for no reason in the past," Kenshin said.

"I know, but the rest of the village doesn't seem to see that. We're faced with a dilema here, Kenshin, since this was the Daimyo's men you attacked. We have two options here. One, you can serve a two month prison sentence and you forfeit four month's pay. Or two, you recieve ten public lashes to be carried out in the market square. Your Jonin-sensei, as well as team eight and theirs, will be the witnesses to you punishment," Sarutobi said sadly, "if you pick the prison sentence, I can make sure you are seperated from the felons."

Kenshin's expression emptied as he looked the Hokage in the eye, "I am _not_ going back to prison. I'll take the lashes."

"Kenshin, you don't have to do that," Sarutobi said, rising from his seat as the boy turned to leave with his Anbu escorts.

Kenshin shot a cold glare over his shoulder at the old man, "Yes I do, and you know it. Sometimes Konoha shinobi are worse than the Iwa. At least the Iwa throughly looked at things before dishing out sentences."

* * *

><p>The quickly built stage pretty much dominated the busy market square and drew everyone's attention, especially when the older Uzumaki was dragged onto it roughly before he was tied up between two posts. Several of the villagers recognized the uniformed men as the Daimyo's personal guard, so they looked on with piqued interest as one took a position behind the Uzumaki and pulled a leather whip from the folds of his kimono.<p>

Anko stood at the edge of the platform, along with the entirety of Team 8, and silently gnashed her teeth. _How could this kid be so stupid_, Anko thought to herself. She watched as to men walked over and ripped the boy's shirt from his body, then felt herself go numb when she saw the scars that adorned Kenshin's back.

"Kami above, he's been whipped before," Kurenai muttered softly. Hinata stiffened at her sensei's side.

"Two hundred ryo says Kenshin starts to bawl after the second lash," Kiba said to Shino, who merely watched the scene silently as it unfolded before him. Anko merely shot the Inuzuka a dirty look before returning her gaze to her apprentice.

An older man, dressed in a fine kimono, stepped to the edge of the platform and looked out over the growing crowd, "All of you may be wondering what is going on here. I'll tell you: this boy is being punished for daring to assault the Daimyo's personal guard without probable cause! His sentence: ten public lashes. See, that sounds like he's getting off lightly! What do all of you say to twenty lashes?"

Many in the crowd shouted their agreement while Anko shouted out in dismay. Few others in the crowd remained silent.

"What is this about? The Hokage only authorized ten lashes!" Anko took a few steps foward when the older man knelt next to Kenshin and whispered in his ear. The boy flinched slightly before addressing his sensei.

"Anko-sensei, it is alright. It is still...less than I deserve," Kenshin said just loudly enough for the shinobi and the crowd to hear.

_What did the bastard say to him_, Anko bit her lip, forcing herself to stay quiet. She only hoped that the Anbu posted on the rooftops reported this to the Hokage quickly.

"Twenty lashes it is! No, see, the Daimyo is merciful, so we'll settle for fifteen. Begin," The older man said, nodding to the man holding the whip. The strip of leather cracked through the air before carving into the boy's back, opening the skin. Looking at his face, one would guess that the whip didn't even faze the boy for all his expression showed. The second crack echoed through the silent square, followed by a third, then a fourth. At this point, the whip was slick with the boy's blood. The stage itself was spattered with the young Uzumaki's blood. A fifth crack echoed out, making a few villagers flinch while others wondered how the brat was whethering the lashes while not making a single noise. As the whip hit for the sixth time, there was a commotion inside the nearby warehouse. Everyone turned to look as a uniformed guard came hurtling out a window, spraying the nearby villagers with glass and blood. Teuchi, bruised and bloody as he was, climbed out the broken window with a wooden chairleg in hand.

The ramen chef looked from the unconcious guard to the stage, his eyes narrowing when he saw Kenshin chained up between the wooden posts, "What the fuck is going on here? You let that boy go right now or, by Kami, I will kill you!"

Anko, confused by this, jogged over to Teuchi's side, "Teuchi-san? We were told you were on vacation with your daughter!"

Teuchi glared at the young Jonin, "Why would I go on vacation? These bastards came and rounded up me and Ayame after Kenshin saved her from getting raped! YOU! Let. The. Boy. Go. Now."

The older man frowned, "You dare to threaten the Daimyo's Personal Guard? Maybe you and your daughter should join the brat up here. Bring up the girl."

Kenshin looked up as a few men dragged a battered Ayame out of the tavern. She looked even worse off than when Kenshin had saved her. He growled deep in his throat as the red haze ate at the edges of his vision. He flexed his arms and felt the chains stretch and groan under the tension.

Just as Anko, Kurenai, and Team 8 prepared to spring into action, the chains binding Kenshin to the posts snapped. With a wordless roar, Kenshin jumped up, wrapped the remains of the chain around the older man's neck and gave a single, savage twist. The sound of the man's neck snapping made a few villagers wretch while others found that they couldn't look away from the grotesque scene. Using the chains as a whip, Kenshin lashed out at his torturer, catching the man across the face and throat. The fact that Kenshin had brutally killed two men didn't bother Anko as much as the empty eyes or disturbing grin. Kenshin began to chuckle as he stalked towards the men standing near Ayame.

"Let her go, and I might let you live," Kenshin said, the disturbing grin widening. Two of the three men instantly stepped away while the third dragged the poor girl infront of him.

"Wrong move."

The third man's eyes widened as he looked from the fading image of Kenshin, then over his shoulder at the pair of green eyes that were no more than six inches away. The man felt a piercing pain a the base of his neck as he realized his sword was no longer at his side.

As the man's head sailed through the air, Kenshin looked out over the terrified crowd, "You think my cousin is a monster, right? You couldn't be more fucking wrong! _**I **_am the only monster in the Uzumaki family. If any of you, _**any of you**_, mess with my cousin again, I swear to Kami that I will disembowel you and force you to eat your own insides. Am. I. Clear?"

Those in the crowd merely nodded silently. Kenshin turned to face his fellow shinobi, and was saddened by the fact that Hinata flinched away in fright. Out of the corner of his eye, Kenshin could see a woman with long black hair, wearing a white dress, smile sadly as the Uzumaki walked away from the stage by himself.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: Hey everyone! I realize it has been awhile since I updated. Since I am in the military, updates will be infrequent at best. Now, I'm going to let you know now: this story with Kenshin runs somewhat parallel with the main story of Naruto. It does get dark and even more violent, so if you are squeemish (is that how you spell it), stop reading now. It shouldn't be too long before the next update since I already have the next chapter planned out. Make sure y'all review and tell me what you think!_**


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